SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ALAMEDA …

1 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ALAMEDARene C. Davidson CourthouseAMENDED ORDER re: Ruling on Submitted MatterPage 1 of 9 Center For Biological DiversityPlaintiff/Petitioner(s) Geologic Energy Management Division, a political subvision of the State of California et alDefendant/Respondent(s) :12/22/2021 Time:1:15 PMDept:21 Judge:Evelio GrilloAMENDED ORDER re: Ruling on Submitted MatterThe COURT , having taken the matter under submission on 12/07/2021, now rules as follows: The Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings Filed for Defendant filed by California Geologic Energy Management Division, a political subvision of the State of California on 09/28/2021 is motion for judgment on the pleadings of Cal Geological Energy Mgt (CalGEM) is DENIED.

2 The motion for judgment on the pleadings of Western States Petroleum Association, Independent Oil Producers Agency, and California Independent Petroleum Association (Industry Groups) is , the Industry Groups, and CBD have each made request for judicial notice. The requests for judicial notice are all COURT is cautious given the volume of material submitted for judicial notice. The parties seek judicial notice of COURT records and public filings by public agencies. The hearing on demurrer may not be turned into a contested evidentiary hearing through the guise of having the COURT take judicial notice of documents whose truthfulness or proper interpretation are disputable.

3 (Fremont Indem. Co. v. Fremont General Corp. (2007) 148 97, 114.) [A] COURT cannot by means of judicial notice convert a demurrer into an incomplete evidentiary hearing in which the demurring party can present documentary evidence and the opposing party is bound by what that evidence appears to show. (Fremont, 148 at 115.)The COURT takes judicial notice of the matters submitted because the factual background of the case has evolved since the complaint was filed. The COURT exercises its discretion to take judicial notice of undisputable developments and make a decision now rather than to require the filing on SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ALAMEDARene C.

4 Davidson CourthouseAMENDED ORDER re: Ruling on Submitted MatterPage 2 of 9a supplemental complaint with the more recent developments and to defer its decision. (Evid Code 452.)COMPLAINT GENERAL ALLEGATIONSFor purposes of a demurrer the COURT assumes the truth of all facts asserted. (Californians for Native Salmon etc. Assn. v. Department of Forestry (1990) 221 1419, 1426-1427,)CalGEM is the state agency charged with supervising the drilling, operation, maintenance, well stimulation, injection, and plugging and abandonment of oil and gas in California.

5 (Cpt para 19, 60. 61.)CalGEM must provide a permit before an operator drills a new oil or gas well. (Cpt para 61) Under CEQA, CalGEM can be the lead agency or the responsible agency. (Cpt para 65, 96.) (PRC 3106.)CalGEM must also provide a permit before an operator uses a well simulation treatment (fracking). (Cpt para 71, 76)California became the primary regulator for oil and gas injection activity in the state by obtaining primacy from the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983. CalGEM issues injection project approvals pursuant to the agency s Underground Injection Control ( UIC ) regulations.

6 (Cpt 76.) (14 CCR )CalGEM categorizes issuance of permits and of project approval letters for injection projects as typical projects under CEQA that require discretionary action from CalGEM. (Cpt 93)CalGEM has a pattern and practice of failing to comply with CEQA in issuing permits for oil and gas wells without adequate environmental review. The complaint identifies three categories:1. CalGEM is lead agency and approves projects with no publicly available documentation that it has conducted environmental review or issued a determination as to whether the proposed oil and gas projects may cause significant environmental impacts.

7 (Cpt 100-104)2. CalGEM is lead agency and issues a Notice of Exemption with no significant analysis. (Cpt 105-112.)3. CalGEM is the responsible agency and issues Notices of Determination after relying on a prior environmental review conducted by a lead agency, but conducts no significant analysis. (Cpt 113-125.)KERN COUNTY PERMITS ISSUED IN 2014 The large number of the oil and gas wells in California are in Kern COUNTY . In 2014, CalGEM (then known as DOGGR) issued 213 permits to Aera Energy drill new oil wells within the South Belridge oil field, which is located in Kern COUNTY .

8 The Association of Irritated Resitents and SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ALAMEDARene C. Davidson CourthouseAMENDED ORDER re: Ruling on Submitted MatterPage 3 of 9other sued DOGGR, alleging that it failed to comply with CEQA. The trial COURT denied the petition on the ground the permit approvals were ministerial and therefore not subject to COURT of Appeal in Association of Irritated Residents v. California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (2020) 2020 WL 1698749 (AIR v. CalGEM), held that the permits were ministerial.

9 The COURT stated, Under the narrow facts of this case, including DOGGR's adoption of specific field rules applicable to drilling wells in the South Belridge oil field, we hold that DOGGR'sapprovals to drill the new wells in question were ministerial in nature. (2020 WL 1698749 at 1.)The COURT later states: we conclude that the 213 permit approvals in this case were ministerial, rather than discretionary. Although some statutory provisions and regulations reflect that, under other circumstances, DOGGR would ordinarily exercise discretion in making well drilling permit decisions, that was not the case here.

10 On the limited and narrow circumstances presented here, DOGGR did not exercise discretionary judgment or deliberation, but merely determined in a mechanical fashion whether there was conformity with applicable standards set forth in the regulations and especially the field rules. (2020 WL 1698749 at *20.))KERN COUNTY 2015 ORDINANCE, 2021 ORDINANCE, AND RELATED CEQA LITIGATIONIn November 2015, Kern COUNTY approved an ordinance to streamline the permitting process for new oil and gas wells and certified an environmental impact report (EIR) as compliant with CEQA.